Diana Duke woke up one morning and changed her life. In one fell swoop she moved from working in a large corporation on the east coast to forest farmer, permaculture designer, yoga teacher in the Hoodoo Valley. Oh, did I mention she is also a triathlete.

Once Diana arrived in southern California she decided to become an Organic Cyclist. She identified various organic farms, packed her panniers and became a WOOFER {Worldwide Organization of Organic Farmers}. This step took her to permaculture design courses, getting married and eventually to our neighborhood.

Diana Duke now co-owns Devadaru Mountain Farm in Priest River, Idaho with her husband , Collin. She is an Idaho Master Forest Steward, an Idaho Master Naturalist and she holds a Permaculture Design Certification from the Permaculture Institute in Santa Fe , New Mexico.

Her story to this point amazing but it is just the beginning because this is where the forest gardening and Hugelkultur come into play. Using Hugelkultur, nothing on the land is wasted, forest and gardening debris becomes a new garden where one can grow anything. Depending on the placement of the Hugelkultur in relation to the sun you can grow mushrooms in one part of the garden and blueberries in another.

Diana will be giving classes on this technique at the library.Hugelkulture – hugel beds and herb spirals presentation at the Sandpoint library is still on for April 25 @10:30 am.

Over the course of time, we will follow Diana as she and her husband build a house, live off the grid and show up in the Farmers Market with a variety of produce.